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We all make mistakes, so I'm hesitant to ever say they should have known better. But... > Even technology experts are getting taken in by some of the more rec

We all make mistakes, so I'm hesitant to ever say they should have known better. But... > Even technology experts are getting taken in by some of the more recent schemes (or very nearly). Rule number one about phone scams, which I've seen repeated numerously so "technology experts" should know this ... _always_ verify and call the number back. I was under the impression that was common knowledge? The scams iterated in this article, no matter how complex, would all have been prevented by that simple and pervasive rule. > “People I’ve talked to about this say there’s no way they’d fall for that, but when someone from a trustworthy number calls, says they’re from your small town bank, and sounds incredibly professional, you’d fall for it, too,” Haughey said. When someone from a trustworthy number calls, says they're from your small town bank, and sounds incredibly professional, you follow the exact same rule. Hang up. Verify the number. Call back. Again, even the best of us make mistakes, so I'm not trying to be critical of the victims here. I'm just surprised is all.

NeedMoreTea 8y ago
> _always_ verify and call the number back Fine in principle, but banks do call, and often have no direct dial, as a matter of policy, for whoever you're speaking to. So it becomes verify the number, call back, and spend 30+ minutes in a queuing system before some lowly call centre worker on another continent incorrectly tells you they can't connect you to the xyz department. It used to work before call centres and all the small banks became just branding on the front of one of the big 4. You were even allowed the phone number of the local branch! That's the UK market btw.
- vpmpaul 8y ago
  Yeah. I worked in banking during the crash. Upper mgmt literally told us to pretend we were XXX small bank (on a list of banks) if someone called and asked about it. Even though we were just large bank 1-4 that bought them.

NeedMoreTea 8y ago

> _always_ verify and call the number back Fine in principle, but banks do call, and often have no direct dial, as a matter of policy, for whoever you're speaking to. So it becomes verify the number, call back, and spend 30+ minutes in a queuing system before some lowly call centre worker on another continent incorrectly tells you they can't connect you to the xyz department. It used to work before call centres and all the small banks became just branding on the front of one of the big 4. You were even allowed the phone number of the local branch! That's the UK market btw.

vpmpaul 8y ago
Yeah. I worked in banking during the crash. Upper mgmt literally told us to pretend we were XXX small bank (on a list of banks) if someone called and asked about it. Even though we were just large bank 1-4 that bought them.